Makita XCU04PT LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 16" Chain Saw Kit (5.0Ah)

A few years back, I bought a little Earthwise saw, and I have NOT been impressed with it. It barely could do more than pruning. So I was a tad skeptical about getting another battery powered saw. But I figured maybe tech had advanced.. so I watched several YouTube videos, and one in particular did a head to head with this saw against a similarly sized gas saw, and this Makita came out on top.The next thing I was not sure about is if my current 18V Makita batteries would work. The one that comes with features 5Ah batteries, and mine are 3Ah. But given the significant cost difference, I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm happy to report the 18V 3Ah work fine (BL 1830B) with this saw. I figured they should--just won't last as long. I've been going electric for some time, and I've found I dislike having lots of different chargers and batteries, so I'm glad Makita offers this with their normal 18V.I took 'er out for a spin yesterday, and made quick work of about an 8" tree (at least the bottom half of it). It prunes off the branches like they're not there, and it slices through the trunk in no time. I'm very impressed! And when I took it back, it still showed full charge on the meter. I imagine it'd last a good bit, at least enough for the periodical jobs I have.I'd also mention that I recently had a professional tree guy do some vista clearing, and he was using a battery powered saw, so I guess even the pros are switching. No doubt there are limits, but hey, hard to beat less maintenance, not messing with fuel and mixing oil, less noise, and so forth. Speaking of noise, it's not bad at all. I don't feel I need ear protection, though maybe if I did it all day I'd feel differently.Note that the tool (as you might expect) comes bone dry in terms of blade oil, so be sure you have that on hand. The opening is big enough you can fill without a funnel, which is nice given how viscous that stuff is.It's very easy to install the chain/bar. No tools required.Lastly, about weight, it's not what Iid call light, especially with the batteries on board, but it's not uncomfortably heavy to me, either. Having some "meat" behind that power is a good thing, anyways, to help keep things stable.I've only had it a short time, but I'm very happy and impressed. Definitely recommend, particularly if you already have the 18V Makita batteries.

I've used a Stihl gas chainsaw for years. I'm so tired of hard starting (great exercise if that's what you want!) and replacing parts (carburator, ignition coil, air filters) and messing with gas and oil mixtures. I've had it with all of the maintenance required with gas engines.I was skeptical about battery operated chainsaws (do they have enough power? Does the battery last long enough to do the Job? How long do the Lithium batteries last? Manufacturer warrantee is for 5 years. Very good.)I just completed making 102 cuts in 6 to 8 inch pine logs and a dozen cuts in some very hard oak. The saw cut like a knife through butter. I realize that's a function of the very sharp Oregon chain that's included. But the saw didn't slow down a bit and I still had 1 bar showing on the two battery packs when I got done. I'm perfectly happy with the performance of the saw.The nice side benefits of this saw are: Low noise, you do not have to wear hearing protection like with a gas saw. No fumes and smoke. No messy gas to mix and pour! No gas to go bad from sitting around! No carburator to clean or change! NO IGNITION COIL OR SPARK PLUG to mess with. No vigorous hard starting exercise and NO CHOKE! God I hate unreliable small gas engines! I have wasted my time working on them for many years.I have no affiliation with Makita. This definitely is not a paid endorsement of their chainsaw. I paid full retain price for the saw on Amazon. I don't know if you should buy one or not but I am glad I did.I gave it to myself for Christmas!Addendum 6 months later: Today I took down a dead (and very hardwood) oak tree that died a few years ago. About 14 inch diameter. I bucked it down into 15 inch logs. (a couple dozen of them). The saw cut nicely through the hard oak. I was surprised. When I finished felling, limbing, and cutting up the logs I still had one bar (approx 25%) charge left. This really surprised me. I started with a new out of the box saw blade and was careful not to try to push through the cut but let the blade do the work. I am so happy to be rid of all gas driven chain saws, what a pain in the neck. Of course if I was a REAL lumber jock (jack?) a gas chainsaw would be necessary due to the higher power, capacity, and no charging stations in the woods!! Also the wider chains on the gas saws are much more rugged and less susceptible to damage. One of the disadvantage of the narrow kerf chainsaw blades (Oregon) is that the teeth can be stripped right off by a pebble in the bark or exceptionally hard wood when you do not maintain a smooth cut. Rough jerky cutting is hard on saws and the more delicate teeth are easily damaged. Like all chainsaws knowing how to sharpen my own blades is an economic necessity. Paying for sharpening costs almost as much as a new blade.

This was so much fun to take out recently. We had a very destructive ice storm over the winter that wrecked our entire town. 6 months later, people are still cleaning up their properties. We put this to use in my mother-in-law's backyard and it cut downed trees and limbs like butter. The blade is perfect, and the batteries lasted a good long time. The safety features are great, one to lock it out, and an extra button to start it up. It's lightweight so it feels safe to handle. The 16" blade was a great size for everything we needed to handle and we got the job done.

Chainsaw works very well with 2. 5 amp hour batteries. You can cut a significant amount but does requires more downward pressure than gas powered chainsaws I believe due to the lighter weight of the chainsaw. All things considered very pleased.